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It was far more than the off-handed mention in an interview that Eric had hoped for. Honestly, he hadn’t been fully clear on what he expected from Max and Lucas. He wasn’t exactly a promo expert, was he?
“You’d do that?” he asked, softer than he’d intended.
“If you want us to do that? Yes, absolutely.”
Eric sat down on the sofa. The daylight was almost entirely gone by now, the room lit only by the glow of the single lamp next to the piano. “Thank you,” he told Lucas. “I really appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome.” Lucas inhaled audibly. “And for what it’s worth, I really am sorry for how things went down. I never meant to hurt you.”
Eric believed him, was the thing. “Except you were in love with Max.”
“You’re the closest I’ve ever come to getting over him.”
“Just not close enough.” This wasn’t a productive conversational path to pursue, and anyway, it was all in the past. “Listen, it’s all right. I was angry for a bit, yeah, and hurt. But I’m not anymore.”
“Really?” Lucas sounded so hopeful it reminded Eric why he’d liked him in the first place—he was gorgeous, yes, but in his own way, Lucas had also been sweet.
“Really,” Eric said firmly. “I’m glad it worked out for you. You’re happy?”
“I am.” Lucas’s voice was light, and it made Eric smile a little.
“Good. So—” He stopped at the sound of steps further down on the stairs.Adrian. “You’ll let me know the precise date and time you’ll be here?”
“I will.” Lucas paused. “It was nice to hear your voice, Eric.”
“You too,” Eric said. He meant it.
By the time Adrian opened the door, Eric had put away his phone and picked up a notebook, pretending to read over some lyrics. He turned at Adrian’s entrance, smiling, and decided that he wouldn’t tell him just yet—not until it was absolutely sure that Max and Lucas were coming. Instead, he let Adrian close the distance between them and yielded easily when Adrian nudged him onto the sofa.
“Thought you were answering emails?” he asked between one kiss and the next.
“I decided they could wait,” Adrian told him. “This couldn’t.”
“I love a man who’s got his priorities straight,” Eric said. Since it hit rather too close to home, he followed it up by getting his teeth on that particularly sensitive spot just under Adrian’s jaw. It never failed to make Adrian suck in a sharp breath, eyes sliding shut.
For now, it was enough.
14
There were no fireworks at the Gletscherhaus. Instead, it was glorious silence and a starlit sky, half the guests already asleep to ring in the New Year with an early day on the slopes. Steaming mugs with punch were passed out to those still awake.
Eric had never assigned particular meaning to the passage of one year to the next. After all, it wasn’t like his life magically reset itself in response to Earth’s elliptical orbit. But something about this felt meaningful—leaning into Adrian’s warmth as they stood on the edge of a quiet group gathered outside, snowy mountains reduced to silhouettes against the velvet sky.
“Do I get a midnight line?” Adrian asked in an undertone.
You’re the midnight wish I’m scared to make.
“A hint of sunrise I didn’t see coming,” Eric said.
A smile shone in Adrian’s voice, his arm tightening around Eric’s waist. “Sounds optimistic.”
“That’s because we’ll get this sorted,” Eric told him, then wondered if he’d said too much.We.
“We will?” It wasn’t dismissive but hopeful, giving Eric the courage to double down.
“We will,” he said, confident. In response, Adrian tugged him in for a kiss that was barely more than a feathery brush of their mouths. Around them, people started slowly moving back inside, out of the cold.
It felt like a beginning.
